Panganiban, Roman Cyril A.

English 12

2008 03955

May 4, 2012

Black and White

(Reaction Paper on Heart of Darkness and Things Fall Apart)
There are different views and definitions about culture. In a general way, it pertains to a
social heritage of a group. It is also a pattern of responses that are considered the correct way to
perceive, feel, think, and act, and are passed on from generations to generations. Culture
determines what is acceptable or unacceptable, important or unimportant, right or wrong,
workable or unworkable. Culture can also be defined though different fields. Language - the
oldest human institution and the most sophisticated medium of expression; Arts & Sciences - the
most advanced and refined forms of human expression; Thought - the ways in which people
perceive, interpret, and understand the world around them. Spirituality - the value system
transmitted through generations for the inner well-being of human beings, expressed through
language and actions; Social activities - the shared pursuits within a cultural community,
demonstrated in a variety of festivities and life-celebrating events; and Interaction : the social
aspects of human contact, including the give-and-take of socialization, negotiation, protocols,
and conventions. Culture, especially of the people living in Africa, is portrayed through different
lenses in Heart of Darkness and Things fall apart.
Conrad's "Heart of Darkness," in my opinion is narrated through the eyes of the white
man or the Europeans in this case. As we have discussed in class, it is about European
imperialism in Africa and their racist ventures at that time. As reported in class, Conrad uses
images of darkness to represent sin and light that represents Christianity and enlightened
civilization. As Ive understood it, Africa is seen as a place of darkness, devoid of civilization
and history, and that Africans, in their tribes, are the examples of what they call savages. Marlow,
the main character or narrator in the Heart of Darkness calls it "a prehistoric earth" with "the
prehistoric man" who only communicates through "short, grunting phrases, which as we have
talked about in class is not fair because labelling a language you dont know as only grunting
is just wrong. Africa, he says, is so hopeless and so dark, so impenetrable to human thought, so

pitiless to human weakness. The people there blend together into one fearsome creature,
crawling out of man's benighted history to strike, tooth and nail against hope and justice and
civilization. He sees their darkness everywhere he turns.
In Things Fall Apart, Achebe presents a different view of the Africans because this is
through the eyes of the black people. They, like normal people do, have families, religion,
honors and titles, music, economy, laws and a court system, complicated farming techniques, a
tradition of wise sayings and the art of conversation as opposed to the grunting as described in
Heart of darkness; They also successfully practice an un-autocratic style of communal living that
Western societies wants. Achebe says that natives are drawn together into frenzy by the
"intoxicating rhythm" of the drums, but afterwards, they are ordinary people talking and
laughing among themselves and with others. This is again opposed to the characterization of
them in Heart of Darkness where they are perceived as monsters. Achebe presents some of the
same images of shadow that Conrad uses to demonize his people but in this case, they do not
represent depravity and sin, but a general and natural fear of literal darkness and solitude. By
showing Africans as also fearful of darkness, he deflects Conrad's accusation that they are
darkness. Both stories show opposition or conflicting ideas between Europe and Africa for they
hold very different cultures, values and experiences. What Achebe suggests is recognizing
Africans as humans and this goes for all foreigners, including those of other nations, religions,
genders, sexual inclinations, histories, economic backgrounds, political biases, and over all
everyone alien to the self.
Heart of Darkness uses Kurtz as a symbol of the European people who was good at many
things like painting, music, politics, writing, and considered a good man. Then, they took their
ideals to Africa, enlightened attitudes of treatment of the natives and bringing them the benefits
of civilization. I don't think that Africa turned him bad or wiped away the good of his
civilization. I do think that the environment provided the opportunity for his base nature to
overpower civility. He finds that his goodness is not very deep, his talent is not earned or
appreciated, and his ideals do not have enough foundation to withstand the evils that man is
capable of. And what I see in Heart of Darkness is all about the white men showing their true
colors. On the other hand, Things fall Apart portrayed the natives sympathetically, and

characterized them as the one abused and wronged by the white man, and that they are not
portrayed honestly. They are producing art and literature and a history at the very time that
Conrad is showing them as shadows that appear on the river bank.
Heart of Darkness and Things Fall Apart are good books in helping to know who you
really are. Both helps you to internalize and see whether you are one of the white or the black
people. They are also good materials to see what really Africa is before the Europeans came
especially in Things Fall Apart.